Tales of Destiny II

"I'm tring to like this game, I really am."

I remember following along with this title ever since it was announced as Tales of Eternia. I would tell people “I’m getting it, I’m getting it.” Well, I got it. But, am I really satisfied with my purchase? It is a great RPG, but it’s just not for me (hay, the rhymes).

Graphics – 10
The graphics in this game are stellar. The backgrounds are so beautifully drawn. Truly, one of the best looking RPG’s I have seen for the PlayStation. The characters look great and really add a lot to the game. I love the images of the characters also that appear in their conversations and in the main menu. The battles also look really great, but I’ll get more into the battles later on.

Graphics on the PS2 – 10
Nothing to improve on. I think the PlayStation pulls off these graphics very well.

Sound – 10
Background music, sound effects, both are well done. I always say that the background music should be load enough to hear yet soft enough as to not annoy the listener and this game pulls that off well. Of course, you can adjust how load or soft the background music and sound effects are, but I think the default is just perfect. This game has another feature not found in too many PlayStation games. Voice Acting. I love the voice acting in this game. True, it only happens at key events in this game, but still it’s pretty cool.

Plot – 8
I give them points for originality here. The game starts off with I visitor from another world of sorts landing on a different, less civilized world bringing news of destruction. Anyway, your mission from that point on is to notify authorities about this catastrophe about to happen and at the same time hope that they believe you. But, what kind of RPG would this be if it ended there? I’m not going to spoil anything here, so either play the game or read one of the many FAQs.

Battles – 6
This is where I know there will be hoards if nasty e-mails and other things aimed at me, but I really have a hard time getting into this game. Everything is pretty much perfect except for the battles. And if you ask me, that battles make up half of the game (literally in the case of RPG’s). The battles resemble a 2D fighting game except you have 4 characters on your side which you can only control one of. You can select which character you control. Also, if you have a buddy over, they can control another character. Likewise, if you have 3 people over, each character in the party can be controlled (one character to each player). Though this is a cool feature, I still don’t like the battles in this game.

Characters – 10
All the characters, I feel, are well developed. Even some of the characters you meet in towns and such. Also, each one has his or her (or its) different abilities. There’s just not an awful lot to discuss here.

Control – 10
I like it. It’s your standard controls for just about every RPG.

Replay – 5
Like I said, if I have problems getting into this game the first time, there’s not a very good chance I’ll keep playing it. This is just one of those games.

Overall – 6
Despite all of what you are reading here, this is a good game and worth a rent. Who knows, you might like this game.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 10/09/01, Updated 10/09/01